On Day 1 of the conference, October 19th, I’ll be addressing the topic “Brand, Trademark & Reputation” with attorney Geoffrey Woxman. This discussion will address how to protect your brand’s reputation in both organic search and Google’s paid offering, AdWords. On Day 3, October 21st, the topic is “Digital Asset Optimization.” I’ll be sharing the stage with Yahoo!’s Kaushal Kurapati and Jim Yu from BrightEdge. We’ll be looking at how to successfully optimize different types of digital assets in this age of “blended” search results. Later in the same day I’ll be moderating a panel titled “Selling Search to the C-Suite” which features Laura Lippay of Nine by Blue and David Dalka of Dalka Strategy Consulting.

Be sure to say “hi” after the sessions or if you see me elsewhere during this exciting search conference.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Matt O’Brien of Mint Social and myself will be the featured instructors for an Online Marketing Institute (OMI) Social Media & Content Marketing Training on Thursday in Tempe, AZ. The workshop will focus on social media content development and marketing and will offer attendees the opportunity to earn credits towards OMI’s certification programs.

We will be tackling the challenges associated with creating web assets and developing content as well as how to ensure those assets are properly indexed by the search engines. In addition to topics such as “The Link Between Content Marketing and Social Media” we will be sharing case studies and tested tips and strategies. We will also lead two group exercises to help attendees apply these strategies to their own social media plans.

The Online Marketing Institute (OMI) has two certification programs: Level 1: Essentials of Online Marketing, and Level 2: Social Media Integration & Execution. Attendees this training will earn credits toward certification and receive a discount against enrollment fees for certification.

The workshop will be held on September 9th at the MadCap Theater in Tempe from 7-9am. Details and registration information can be found here.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Social Media AZ is proud to bring you Social Media for Business AZ. This is the largest business focused social media event in Arizona aimed at helping business improve and learn about social media and digital marketing.

The agenda will focus on real experiences and present case studies to show what has worked and what hasn't. Elixir Interactive CEO, Fionn Downhill, will be Speaking at the event.

The event will take place on September 9th, 2010 from 8am to 4pm at The MadCap Theaters in Tempe.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

After months of careful documentation and analysis, I am pleased to announce that Elixir Interactive has released our online reputation management case study, “Brands Under Attack.”

As early as September 2009 a number of online reputation management companies came under systematic attack by an unknown company or individual intent on damaging their online reputation by ranking false complaints in the search engine results pages. When Elixir itself was first attacked in March 2010, I posted on my official blog about our initial findings regarding the roots of the smear campaign. The result seemed to be an even more vicious and unrelenting campaign against that continues as I write this. Rather than simply take care of the problem and go on, I decided to document the tactics used by our assailant as well as the steps we took to counter them.

Elixir, being an ORM company with years of experience helping clients recover from bad SERPs, was well-positioned to fend off this smear campaign. By strengthening existing assets, creating new assets, and taking calculated steps with complaint sites, we have managed to keep our SERPs clean. This case study, which can be viewed and studied at http://www.elixirinteractivecomplaints.com, documents those steps and provides additional information and advice for use by anyone who feels they are at risk for such an attack – and even for those who might not realize they are at risk.

After all, if ORM companies can be so easily harassed, what does that say about the safety of the carefully built reputations of less web-savvy brands or even individuals? After enduring months of persistent hits, I can only conclude that no one’s reputation is 100% safe online. If someone is willing to put in the time, money, and effort to do so, they can easily take advantage of black hat tactics and the anonymity of the online world to create – and rank – bogus and even slanderous reports against any company.

My hope is that companies can use this case study to bolster their reputations against such an attack or, if necessary, to counter an attack once it occurs.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Today it is imperative that your business owns your brand name in the major social spaces. This means being proactive rather than reactive. Your business can benefit from these profiles by driving targeted traffic with higher conversation rates and controlling the conversation about your brand in the social space. It is better you own your name in these social spaces rather than a competitor or former disgruntled employee. Even if you do not develop your profiles right away, you should sign up and take control of your name.

Social media profiles can also be used to merge traditional PR assets with online strategies. Loads of content is created with offline campaigns- commercials, print ads, radio ads, the list goes on and on. Many times customers are looking for these ads online. If your content isn’t there these customers can end up finding a competitor who has targeted your campaign phrases. Placing this content on the appropriate social channels will increase content and help build fans/followers.Setting up your company only takes minutes and devoting as little as 10 minutes a day to maintain and adding to your profiles will keep the profiles fresh with content.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Fionn Downhill is the CEO & President of Elixir Interactive. Fionn is also an experienced speaker on search and online reputation management. Fionn Downhill is a featured speaker at the following upcoming events:

"Is your Google reputation keeping you up at night?Do you or a your clients have false reports on sites which are affecting their sales?Do you work with a brand that values their good name more than anything else?Do you know all about monitoring social media but not how to repair bad results?If you answered “yes” to any of these questions – this event is for you.

The panel will include Fionn Downhill from Elixir Interactive, Tom Biro from Allison & Partners, and Clark Porter from Osborn Maledon law firm."

"OMS is coming to you! This year, OMS will visit 23 cities across the U.S. and Canada and will include 400 expert speakers, exclusive OMI training workshops and countless peer networking opportunities."

"One of the popular sessions at SES New York 2010 was entitled, "Selling Search to the C-Suite." It was moderated by Anne F. Kennedy, a member of the SES Advisory Board, the Founder & MP of Beyond Ink, and the FP & CMO of Joblr.net. Following the session, Kennedy interviewed one of the speakers, Fionn Downhill, the CEO and President of Elixir Interactive."

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About Me

In 2003 I started Elixir Interactive. I have since built Elixir into a successful Digital Marketing Agency from the ground up. My background was always in training & customer service in the travel industry. This has proved very useful in building my own business.